Spatial Attention: Unilateral Neglect attended location (70-90 ms after target onset). Self portrait, copying, line bisection tasks: In all cases, patients with parietal/temporal lesions seem to forget about 1/2 of space! but they still see it!
Effects of Parietal Lesions on Posner Task 120 100 Lesioned 80 60 40 Intact 0 1 2 Neutral Valid Invalid Patients perform normally in the neutral (no cue) condition, regardless of where the target is presented Patients benefit just as much as controls from valid cues Patients are hurt more than controls by invalid cues
Possible Models + Alert Interrupt Localize Spatial Object Disengage Move Engage V1 (features x location) Inhibit Attention emerges from bidirectional constraint satisfaction & inhibitory competition.
Simple Model targ cue Spat2 Output Obj2 Spat1 Obj1 V1 Object 2 (Target) Input Object 1 (Cue)
[attn simple.proj.gz]
Posner Task Data Valid Invalid Diff Adult Normal 350 390 40 Elderly Normal 540 600 60 Patients 640 760 120 Elderly normalized (*.65) 350 390 40 Patients normalized (*.55) 350 418 68
Posner Task Sims The model explains the basic finding that valid cues speed target processing, while invalid cues hurt Also explains finding that patients with small unilateral parietal lesions benefit normally from valid cues in ipsilateral field but are disproportionately hurt by invalid cues. No need to posit disengage module! Also explains finding of neglect of contralateral visual field after large, unilateral parietal lesions when some stimulus is present in ipsilateral field ( extinction )
More Posner Lesion Fun Returning to patient with left parietal lesion... What happens if cues are presented in contralateral (affected) hemifield?
[attn simple.proj.gz]
More Posner Lesion Fun Returning to patient with left parietal lesion... What happens if cues are presented in contralateral (affected) hemifield? Predictions: Smaller benefit for valid cues Patients should be hurt less than controls by invalid cues.
Inhibition of Return Typically, target detection is faster on trials with valid vs invalid cues However, if the cue is presented for a longer time (eg. 500 ms), performance is faster on invalid vs valid trials Can explain in terms of accommodation (neural fatigue)
[attn simple.proj.gz]
Simple model: too simple? Has unique one-to-one mappings between low-level visual features and object representations (not realistic) Does not address issue of spatial attention when trying to perceive multiple objects simultaneously
Simple model: too simple? Has unique one-to-one mappings between low-level visual features and object representations (not realistic) Does not address issue of spatial attention when trying to perceive multiple objects simultaneously Complex model combines more realistic model of object recognition (starting from LGN) with simple attention model Can use spatial attention to restrict object processing pathway to one object at a time, enabling it to sequentially process multiple objects. Lesions of entire spatial pathway cause simultanagnosia: inability to concurrently recognize two objects
Complex Model Spat2 Output Target Spat1 V4/IT V2 V1 LGN_On LGN_Off
[objrec multiobj.proj.gz]
Perception and Attention 1. Why does primary visual cortex encode oriented bars of light? Correlational learning based on natural visual scenes. 2. How do we recognize objects (across locations, sizes, rotations with wildly different retinal images)? Transformations: increasingly complex featural encodings, increasing levels of spatial invariance; Distributed representations. 3. Why is visual system split into what/where pathways? Transformations: emphasizing and collapsing across different distinctions 4. Why does parietal damage cause attention problems (neglect)? Attention as an emergent property of competition
General Issues in Attention Attention: Prioritizes processing. Coordinates processing across different areas. Solves binding problems via coordination.